Cigar-bunching machine



March 15,1927. 4 2 88 w. H. SCHUSSLER Filed Jan. 8, 1924 e Sheets-Sheet 1 CIGAR BUNCHING MACHINE ATTORNEY.

W. H. SCHUSSLER CIGAR BUNCHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 8. 1924 s Sheets-Shet 2 /Z9 A I A r II II H I r /9 o o m INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS,

W. H. SCHUSSLER CIGAR BUNCHING MACHINE Filed Jan. e. 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet a March 15, 1927. 1,621,088

- INVENTbR. m 76 \FM ATTORNEYI.

March 15,1927. ,088

W. H. SCHUSSLER' CIGAR BUNCHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 8, 1924 '6 Sheets-Sheet 5 I NV EN TOR.

March 15, 1927.

1;621,'0'8'8 w. H. SCHUSSLER CIGAR BUNCHING MACHINE Filed Jan. 8, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR Patented Mar. 15,1927.

oIoAe-Bmmmtre MACH INEJ V PENNfiYLVANIAQ T Asslenomm o THE MT Agienmt-synvmvm Application filed January-8, 19 24 L'SfialH QGELQMQ T The ohjectof'my present"invention'is to provide a cigar. hunchi'ngz mach ne of novel for making; the bunch, with 'the correct amountor Weight o1 tobacco contained therein, novel means of distributing the tobacco" V to produce the 'tornidesii'e'd'f and novel niezin's tion o fweighing meohanisni which controls Figure lti represents""zf fside "elevation;

V partly inisectionL I deliver th'e tobao'co' in a formo't any desired in front elevation otherifojrms' of applying the hinder to prevent it from" being 'cur1ed"ui by the rolling apron duringthe roJling ope-ration.-

With thea'bove and otherobjects 'in'vieW which will hereinatte'r more fully appear,

my invention comprehen'ds novel construc-' tion end arrangement of a cigar 'bunching mii ohine, and a novel mechanism for making the bunches. I

It further comprehends a novel constructhe. stopping 'o't' the feed of the tobacco passing' to said Weighing'mechenismi v It further comprehends novel niea-ns to shape to the hunching mechanism, and novel means tor placing a hinder ottsmelhsize about'th'e'fi'lleri' 4 Other 5 novel features of constructionend advanteg'es' will hereinafter niore fully appear the detailed description and theappended claims.

For the purpose of illustrating n'iy invention, I hzwe'shown 1n the accompanying drawings afitypicla] embodiment thereof" which is at present preferred by me, since this embodimentnvill "be found. 1n practice to ,QIVB satisfactory and rehehle'resultsg It is, howeveiz to he understood that the yari-V ous instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be" VElYlOHFiY' arranged and organized] and that my invention-is? not liniited to the precise arrangements and organization of these instrlinientehties as hGIElHShGWII and described. Y

F i.' 'urci"1 "reoresents a front elevation" of r v a. i I I a cigar 'bunching' maohlneg emoodyitog my invention) '2 Figure 2'1-epresents a section on line 2-2 of Figure l. v

Figure 3 represents azplano iew showing the construction abovc'the line 3-"-3 of Fig-5 iiigure at represents a "partial side eleva tiou with "part of frame hrokennway.

"lure 6;hut inenother position;

drive pew 15*?" v i F1gure 10 represents e'half lan iview of f L employed. have" been improved! simplt' provided nth efwormfS; see mol'wpe rftieu ]eased1me'chanismi and fe'edfl dritei." construction and toprovide novel means 5 Figure .7 represents elview similar to Fig Figure '8 representsfttn end elei ajtiomof the feeddrlve inechanisml'"" 1 J "F1gure'9 represents wplanView ofe fee'd' *"I hinder controlling meehanisml; I v Flgure 11 represents e' section,on,line 1111 'ofFiguiefi; of binder controlling A mechanism. i V

Figure 12" represents a side elevetioniof'j Figure 111' Figure 13 represents e fsimil'er iriew'a'sl f t Figure 12 but 1n'o emt vepos tion:'

Figure 14 represents e'plfan, Yi''W of at t em *respectively t fshapin g; I

Figures 16 and V devices, embodying my invention; I Figure 18 1s '21 slde VIEW ofthe u pperipon g correspondingabarts. 7

Referring tolthe dr'aw'iingsi Similar: numerals-of reference indiceteij f In Irtyprior' albplicationg serial "No. "541,-38

914, March 8, 19221 I l irii e describe'dl and broadlyclaiined a novel oonstruotion "of an automatic: cigar ,buno'h'ing ma liine. presentinvention hasthe same genemtcyelq of operetiom but inzi'nyof'the"mechanisms? Q'g' fied in orderrto increase the etficieney ofthe 5 machine r 1 designates the off the fiia '2 chiney and fli i s the OrtiOn thereof 'Which" carries the feeding and Weighing niejoh'e nism. 3 designates the n t Lin driy gfbelt I Which passes around the nieinldrivingpullley 4:, which is fast to e mainidrivinjgfshefiy 5', mounted'in bearings G fg'ind 7, hich"etre* 9 carried'iby the frame f1; The'shaft fi 'f is' larly Figure 52, andmeshee "Withfe Worm:

Whee'119 'Whichis looselyfinountedf on iaf" main cam shaft 10; which r iatter'fis jourj 9 14 designates a driving pawl, which is loosely mounted-on astudl15, fixed to a lever 16, which latter is fixed to the shaft 10' The rearend of the pawl 14 has connected to it one end of a spring 17, the opposite endof which is connected to thelever 16. In order to prevent relative longitudinal move- .mcnt of the shaft 10 in its bearings, a pin 18 extends therefrom, seethe lower right handportion of Figure 1. The pawl 14 is provided. with arelease lever '19 which is fixed ona' rock shaft 20. A lever 21 is also fixedon the rock shaft 20, and is provided with a stud 22 on which is loosely mounted-one.end of a link 23, the opposite [end of which is loosely mountedona stud 24 carriedby a foot treadle lever 26. which is fixed to a rock shaft 25, suitably journalled in the machine frame. r

9 The movement ofthe release lever 19 in one direction is limited by means of a stop pin 27 carried by the machine frame.

A stud 28 carried by the machine frame has .fixed to it one end of'a spring 29, and the opposite endof said spring is connected with to it a cam 33. Spaced from the cam 33 and fixed to the shaft is a second cam 34, see Figure 1. The main frame 1 has journalledinit a rock shaft 35, and longitudinal movement of this shaft with respect to the main frame is prevented by the pins 36, see

Figure 1. The shaft 35 has'loosely mounted on it a cam lever 37. 38 is a cam roller, see Figure 4, which travels in a cam groove 39 of the cam 34. This cam roller 38 is loosely mounted on a stud 40 carried by the lever 37. The cam lever 37 has fixed at its free end a stud 41 to which is connected 7 one end of a link42, the opposite end of said link being connected to a stud 43 carried by an arm of a bell crank lever. 44 which is fixed to a rock shaft 45, suitably journalled in the bearings 46, carried by the main. frame 1. V

' The-bell crank lever 44 has an arm 47 'which carries a trip pawl 48 mounted on a 1 stud bearing 49 fixed to the lever arm 47 and a: stop pin carried by the arm 47 limits the movenient'in one direction of said trip pawl 48. .51 designates amp lever,

provided with' a cam face 52- and fulcrumed on a stud 53 fixed to. abearing 54 which forms a part of-a plate 5 r The rolling table 56 which is a part of i the frame 1, receives-the plate 55.

The lever 51 has a stud '57 on which is loosely mounted one end of a link 58, the opposite end of which is loosely mounted on a stud 59 secured to one end of an arm 60. to a shaft 61 journalled in the machine frame.

A scale operating arm 62 is fixed atone end to the shaft 61 and is adapted to cooperate with an arm 63 secured to the hop.- per 64 of the scale pan. The'scale pan, see

The other end'of the arm 6O is secured Figure 14, has'a back wall 65 from which I extend the arms The scale pan is ful crumed at 67, and the hopper 1S .fulcrumet at 68 to the back 'wallof the scale pan. 69 and 7 O designate scale arms fixed to a shaft 1 r 71, mounted in oear1ngs72 and 73 carried by the frame portion 2 of the machine frame.

The shaft 71 has secured to it a balance arm 74 which carries an adjustable weight 75 and a fixed balance weight-76, see Figure 3. The shaft 71 is provided with a stop lever '77, having at its free end a tooth 7 8, said lever having its movement in one direction limited by a stop pin 79, secured to a fixed portion of the machine frame.

designates a ratchet wheel, loosely mounted on a shaft 81journalled in the machine frame. mounted on the shaft 81, see Figures 6 and 7, and provioed with a pin 83 which extends beneath the lever 77 to actuate it- The lever 82 is retained in position. by a stop pin 84, see Figure 1. The lever 82 has a stud 85 on which is fulcrumed one end of a link 86, the

other end of said link 86 being fulcrumed on a stud 87, secured to one end of an operating lever 88 loosely mounted on the shaft 45., see Figure 1. The lower arm 89 of the lever.

88 carries a stud 90, on which is loosely mounted a roller 91, which is actuated. by

the cam 33, see also-Figure 2. The lever arm 89 has a stop projection 92adapted to conmet with the rolling table 56. 93 designates a spring pin fixed to the table 56,and a spring 94 is connected with the spring pin 93 and with the lever arm 89 to retain its lever 88 in its normal position.

Referring now more particularly to Fig- 82 designates a lever looselyl urcs 6.v 7 and 8,'the ratchet wheel 80 has I fixed to it a pawl operating pin 95, and also 55 spring stud 96, to which isconnected one end of a spring 97, the opposite end of which is connected to a spring stud 98 carried by an arm 99, which is an operating arm'secured to the shaft 81. The arm 99, see lfigure 8, has a spring stud 160 towhich is connected one end of a spring 101, the opposite end of said spring being connected tofa spring stud 102secured to a driven pawl 103 fixed to a rock shaft-104 loosely mounted on ihe arin99. V f

The pawl 163 has a tooth 105 co-operating with the teeth of driving ratchet wheel v107 fixed to a wormv-rheel 108, both of which. are loosely mounted on the shaft 81. The

pavv1108 has atlottedmrin IOG tore'ceive the pin 951 The shaft 8 1 is joui-na lled in bear 'i-ngs 109ahd11 see Figures and 32, and a Worm shaft 113 journallerlin laearing's 111 and 112, see Figure 3, and provided with a=worm 11 1. e

.Theshaft l'lii h-as-"a drive pulley 115,111111 thesha l t has'alh'ivepulley 117; A driven bel tfllflftlrives the-P111118) 115 and also the pulley-117. I 118'is a feed belt for the shaft 81 see Figure arodnd the shaft-- 81 and Jare'und a pulley 122 V on a'sha ft 12L journalled in the frame.

A drive belt 123 passes around the pulley l'2-2 a-nd aroundapullev124 on'a tobacco spreader shaft 125, jou rnalled inbearings 1'27 and 1 28,a-nd= this shaft125- has fingers "or prongs 126 which spread the tobacco.

u Securedto the frame-portion 2' are tobacco guides 129a 1id*130 see'Frg'ui-e 3. 133KTlGSlfi-' natesa push'ersee'Fi gu're 5 Wl1lCl1 travels between laterally adjustable guides 131 and 132 which are fixedin their adjusted posi, tions on the "plate by fastening devices 171 The pusher 133 slides on. the plate 55,

and hasylugsliit, towhich is fulcrtimed; at

135, n'l't 13b, connected-with ar0d137, secured to 'alever138 looselymo'u'nted' on the shaft 45. The end of the lever 1-38-has a'pin- 139 -Whichco=operates With a lug 1&0 on the cam '34, see Figureli 141 is a spring p111 securedto the frame and connectedby a spring;- "l42 vvith the lever 138*to' maintain such lever against astop 143. guide131,see-Figure 1,'has-an'1nclined chuteor shaper' 144. 14-5 designates an apron carriage mounted on 'slide'rods 146 and 14 7 ,and' the carriage has bearings 148and 1 19 for a shaft 150, see Figures 11. and 12; V r

"Theapron roller 151 revolves freely on the shaft 15Opand ashield 152' partly covers such roller and hasbearingg's 153, free 1 to rock on the shaft 150. A spring. pin is secured to one of the bearings 158', and is connected by a" spring: with a spring;

stud 156', secured "to the apron carriage 15. A stop pin'157 is secured: toi abfea ring The r-oiling apron 158 is secured, at its rear, to themain vframe by a clamp 159, and at its front by a clamp 160. 161 isa. flexible strip carried by a clanip163 to smooth out the binder 162, shown in'dot andfdash lines Figures 12 and 13. The-clamp 163 has at "opposite ends lugsltil} secured to rods 165,

slid'able' in bearings 166 and 167, which are apart of the apron carriageflla ,A compression spring 168 retains the strip 161 against'theshield 152, when the parts are intheposition seen in Fi gn-re 13, anda stop pin 16 9 holds the spring inPositienon the rods 165: TheapronlSS-has a pocket 170 to receive'thetobacco, prior to the bunching operation. v en'iploymg diflerei-itforms ofs'shapers,

theshape of the finished cigar can be" varied as may be desired. lnsteadiof employing a shaper such as the shaper 14 1 which causes the :cigarto be thicker near onefend a sleeper such as 172; 111,F1gure16, 01 1735 as seen 111 Figure 17, can "beeniployed.v

: ihe operation of iny novelifcigar making iina'chine will now be apparent to those skilled in this art and'isi'as follows:

The first step in the cycle of'the ope ation is the placingor feeding of tobacco to; the

feed belt 119 iii-rear of thes reader 126,

and I will now describethe diflferentinechamsms in the'logical order in which'they are] brought into. operation;

' IThe main driving shaft" 5 Sis driven by means of any desired type of-povv'er, and is effective to drive the belt'116'," (see Figure 1) said beltfalso passing around thef pulley 115 on the shaft'113 (see Figures land The Worm 11 1 meshes jwiththe Worni Wheel 108 on the shaft 81. The shaft 81 {has mounted on it the ratchet \vheels";and 10'Z, (see F1gures,6 i 7, and 8). The ratchet 107 and. drives the 211-11199 which is fixed-to the shaft 81. The par/1103 receives the pin carried bythe ratchet 80; so that when the pawl 103 is integral with the worm Wheel' 1O8,

is driven',the ratchet Wheel'80 ill also be 7 driven. WVh-en the ratchet Wheel-8O revolves,

basse gf which; in tu1I'1,- passes around the pulley 12 1 onxthe shaft which carries the feeding elements 126. This causes the tobacco to be spread in aalllllfOllll layer on the feed beltg'betiveen the guides- 129 and 180.: Thef'eed belt 119 delivers the-tobacco to the scale-pa n es, As soon as 'thelpredelei-mined amount of. tobacco has be'en fredrives the pawl 103 which} inturn;

llO

ceivedfin the scale pan, thescale pan dropa' and the feed 'of tobaicco is automatically ar rested in a manner Which Will now be described. As soon as the scale pan drops,the lever 77 which is fixed'to the shaft' 'il on which thescale pan is flllCllUllGCl moves from the position seen in Figure 6 into that seen in Figurel", so that the tooth 78 of the lever 77 engages a teeth of theratchetiivheel 80", and stops its rotation. This brings'the pin 95 to a stop, 'ivhich causes the'naivl" 103 to be raised from its operative positionseen in Figure 6 into its inoperative position-seen "in Figure 7. The spring 101 retains the pawl 103in its'inoperativeposition uircilthe'v feeding operation again begins; new more particularly to Figures 2 and 45 "1111011181111 driving sha-ft 5 is intergea'red With Refe the shaft whichfcarries a cam 34 which actuatesthe lever 37-. This lever 37 is connected by the link 42 with a lever 44 on whichis mounted a trip 48 which cooperates withv the cam 52 of the lever 51 to raise said .lever 51 and thereby link 58 and lever .60.

causing the arm 62 to press against the arm 63, and causing the movable side 64 of the scale pan to open; This permits the'tobacco todrop, intothe tobacco retainer. As soon as'the trip 48 passesbeyond the shoulder 52,

[the lever 51 and connecting links will be permitted to drop downwardly: so that the movable side of thescale pan will close, due

-' to the manner in whichit is supported,- The scale pan is returned to its operative weighing'position in the following manner. The shaft 10. (see Figure 2) has fixed to it a cam 33 which at the proper time cooperates with the roller 91 to lock the lever 89, to

I thereby actuate the links 86. which in turn actuate the lever 82 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 81, (see Figure-6). The lever 82 hasa projection 83, which presses against the lever 77 and moves it into the position seen in Figure 6. The lever 77, as before explained, is fixed to the fulcrum scale pan,

and therefore returns the scale pan to its.

operative or. weighing position. The stop 79 prevents too great amovement of the "lever 77. As soon asthe tooth 78 of the lever 77 moves out ofengagement with a tooth of the ratchet wheel 80, the spring 97,

which is stronger than the spring 101, (see- Figures 7 and :8). will cause the ratchet wheel 80 to partially rotate, carrying with it the pin 95, which will cause the pawl 103 to move from the position seen inFigure 7 into that seen in Figure 6, and the'operation of feedingthe tobacco will again begin.

By varying the shape of the shaper employed. such as for example 144, the shape of'l'he finished cigar can be varied as may .be'desired, for example, shapers 172 or 173 can be employed. The adjustable guides 131 and 132 are relatively adjusted in accordance with the length of the cigar which is to be made. The next operation is thedelivery of the tobacco from the tobacco, retainer into the pocket of the rolling, apron, and this operation is as follows: The projection 140 on the cam 34 now contacts with the pronon. In devices of this character as hereto- I fore .made there is a tendency of the bmder to be curled up by the apron passing around the roller inits upward movement and com tacting withit. In order to prevent such curling-action, I provide the shield 152. This prevents the binder from touching the apron at this point and being carried up with the movement of the apron. The binder is held eration by means of a flexible trip 161, (see against the shield 152 during the rolling o-p- Figures 12 and 13). hen the slide 145 is I in normal posit-ion, as shown in Figure 12, the rod 165 contacts w th the frame, compressing the spring 168, so that, when the slide 145 is moved rearwardly, there will be a clear unobstructed passage for the'tobacco to pass into the pocket of the rolling apron. The clamp 163 is fixed tothe rod 165, so that, when the'slide 145 is moved r'earwardly,

'the spring 168 will retain therod 165 and the scale pan, the discharge oft-he weighed It will be understood that the mainshaft 10 has one revolution imparted to it, and it then stops until it is again set into operation by the operator placing his foot on the foot pedal 26. p In accordance with my invention, the tobacco, whichin this case is principally short filler or scrap, is placed on the feed belt be.- hind the spreader, or fed to such position in any desired manner. The tobacco is then advanced by the feed belt passing under the spreader so that after passing, the spreader, it is in practically a uniform layer. This tobacco is delivered to the weighing scalepan, and, when said scale pan has the determined weight of tobacco in it to overcome the balance weights, the scale ban descends, and thus brings the ratchet pawl on the scale fulcrum shaft into contact-with the ratchet wheel, thereby stopping the feed of more tobacco into the scale pan. this scale pan, the tobacco is automatically discharged. and fed into the apron pocket, and the hunch is then formed in the usual manner. T

The cigar bunches can be made of short From tobacco into the tobacco retainer, and the 1 ejection of the tobacco from the tobacco re; tainer into the pocket of the rolling apron.-

filler or scrap, and the tobacco is accurately V weighed, so as to produce bunches of uniform size and weight as desired. and of a soft spongy nature, so they will be free-smoking.

A bunch of correct shape is required, and

this is accomplished by allowing the greater amount of the filler in the scale pan to fall into a desired position on the retainer belo the Scale pan, so that the'tobacco Will be distributed as desired.

A binder of a smaller size is preferred in making cigars for the sake of economy in' V manufacture. The binder applying mechaters Patent, is:

" I claim as new and desire to nism permits the laying of the binderdiago nally in the rolling apron, and the end 1 In' a cigar bunching machine the combination with the rolling apron and the apron roller, of a shield in proximity to said apron roller and capable of limited movement in the directionl of the apron.

2. In a cigar bunchingrnachine, the combination With the rolling apron and the apron roller, of a shield movably mounted in proximity to said apron rollerand a tension device'for said shield. i

mo'vement'ofthe f 3. In a cigar bunching machiney'the com- I bination With the rolling apron and the apron roller, of a shield mounted in proximity'to said apron roller, and a flexible strip to cause a binder to contact with said shield during the. rolling operationr l. In a cigar bunching machine, the combination 'Wlt-h the rolling apron and the apron roller, of means to prevent the portion of a binder which has not passed into the apron pocket contacting with the apron as it passes upwardly over the apron roller.

WALTER H. SCHUSSLER. 

